Urlacher shown the money

Although I’ve doubted Brian Urlacher would miss any training camp — he was, after all, at the mandatory off-season workouts even though he skipped the voluntary ones — Urlacher’s contract status was a bit of a blip on the radar.

After a solid 2007 season in which he recorded 123 tackles, a touchdown, and was a member of the “55” club — 5 interceptions and 5 sacks — Urlacher felt he had outplayed the 9-year contract he signed in 2003.

The Bears had been in the driver’s seat because Urlacher was under contract for 4 more seasons, plus, he had underwent neck surgery and had been battling an arthritic back.

But for everything Urlacher has done for the organization — he was, is, and will continue to be the face of the franchise — the team decided to reward their star player.

I’m happy about the move because it’s one less unneeded distraction as we head into an important training camp.

Last order of business is rookie left tackle Chris Williams. Let’s hope something gets done soon so Williams doesn’t miss any time. Players are supposed to report to Bourbonnais by midnight tonight — or tomorrow morning, technically — and Williams had long ago said “holdout” was not in his vocabulary.

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